I love it when a waiter remembers your coffee order. It makes you feel a little bit loved and a little bit special. And if you’ve got special needs to feel special, like I do, remembering my poison will get you a long way.
Trotting in to Pillar of Salt on a Saturday morning, I was seated immediately and my coffee of choice was quoted to me, as if I’d been there every day since it opened just over two months ago. Brownie points for that guy.

Each time I’ve visited PoS, whoever has been my co-chow has ordered the chilli and chorizo scramble with Parmesan. And each time I’ve witnessed its fluffy, golden glory heaped on two buttery sourdough slices, I’ve considered becoming one of those pescetarians that dabbles in chorizo every now and then, or maybe I’ve made them up? Whatever. The dish smells incredible and I recommend all carnivores get around it.

On the flip/fish side (flipsh?) Pillar of Salt’s corn fritters come with my favourite fishy friend, salmon, and a zesty wee salad of coriander, tomato and red onion. Fritters seem to be all the rage on breaky menus around town and Pillar of Salt’s illustrate why.

Speaking of trendy, they use Five Senses through a Synesso machine. Â The single origin written up for the day was from Columbia. I’m sure they meant Colombia but it tasted great nevertheless.

My only teeny, tiny qualm would be that I felt parched as bro during a few of my visits, due to the fact that there’s no water on each table, rather a little glass for each diner and a jug-totin’ waiter on fill-up duty (when he/she finds time between running food and coffees). If it’s super busy, you might dehydrate, so don’t go with a hangover. I’m down with water topping-up at restaurants but in the casual atmosphere of a café I think DIY is best and easiest. The wetter the better.

Pillar of Saltâ€™s menu ticks all Melburnian boxes, the service is smiley and the coffee is good, albeit misspelled. The space definitely raises the bar for any other aspiring awesome-café owners out there. You can watch the gun show filing out of Fitness First across the road Â by the open-front window, hang in courtyard or lounge curb-side in the morning sunshine, whatever you choose, you’ll look cool doing it. So if youâ€™re cruising through Richmond, I highly recommend you pass by the Salt please.